Gaming machine and method with a bonus symbol array

1. A gaming machine comprising:

at least one display; and

an electronic controller coupled to the at least one display, the electronic controller being configured to display a first game on the at least one display including one or more configurations of game symbols, one or more of the configurations of game symbols being associated with a winning game outcome, the winning game outcome being associated with a value award payable to a player; and

a value transfer mechanism for receiving value from the player, wherein the electronic controller communicates with the value transfer mechanism such that when a threshold amount of value has been received from the value transfer mechanism, the electronic controller initiates a play of the first game;

the electronic controller being further configured to:

randomly determine whether to display one or more bonus symbols in the first game, each bonus symbol being associated with a bonus value award;

in response to a trigger event occurring in a first play of the first game, display a collection of the bonus symbols on the at least one display; and

add bonus symbols to the collection as they appear in one or more subsequent plays of the first game,

wherein the collection comprises a predetermined number of collection positions occupied by the bonus symbols, one or more bonus symbols are transferred from the collection when the number of bonus symbols exceeds the predetermined number of collection positions, and each transferred bonus symbol moves to a win meter that increments by the amount of the bonus value award associated with the transferred bonus symbol.

2. The gaming machine of claim 1 , wherein the trigger event comprises the appearance of a predetermined number of bonus symbols in the first play of the first game.

3. The gaming machine of claim 2 , wherein the bonus symbols appearing in the first play of the first game are arranged in the collection for the next play of the one or more subsequent plays of the first game.

4. The gaming machine of claim 3 , wherein one or more of the bonus symbols appearing in the first play of the first game are arranged in collection positions of the collection corresponding to their respective positions in the first play of the first game.

5. The gaming machine of claim 1 , wherein bonus symbols are sequentially transferred from the collection in response to bonus symbols being added to the collection.

6. A gaming machine comprising:

at least one display; and

an electronic controller coupled to the at least one display, the electronic controller being configured to display a first game on the at least one display including one or more configurations of game symbols, one or more of the configurations of game symbols being associated with a winning game outcome, the winning game outcome being associated with a value award payable to a player; and

a value transfer mechanism for receiving value from the player, wherein the electronic controller communicates with the value transfer mechanism such that when a threshold amount of value has been received from the value transfer mechanism, the electronic controller initiates a play of the first game;

the electronic controller being further configured to:

randomly determine whether to display one or more bonus symbols in the first game, each bonus symbol being associated with a bonus value award;

in response to a trigger event occurring in a first play of the first game, display an array of the bonus symbols on the at least one display; and

add bonus symbols to the array as they appear in one or more subsequent plays of the first game,

wherein the array comprises a predetermined number of array positions occupied by the bonus symbols and the bonus symbols move from one array position to another array position when a bonus symbol is added to the array, the bonus symbol occupying a designated exit array position is transferred from the array when the bonus symbol is added to the array and is moved to a win meter so that the amount of the win meter increases by the amount of the bonus value award associated with the transferred bonus symbol.

7. The gaming machine of claim 6 , wherein the array positions define a path along which each bonus symbol moves from an entry array position to an exit array position.

8. The gaming machine of claim 1 , wherein the bonus symbols are arranged in a predetermined order in the collection.

9. The gaming machine of claim 8 , wherein the bonus symbols are transferred from the collection according to the predetermined order when one or more bonus symbols are added to the collection.

10. The gaming machine of claim 1 , wherein the first game comprises a base game and a feature game, the first play of the first game being a play of the base game and the one or more subsequent plays of the first game being plays of the feature game.

11. The gaming machine of claim 1 , wherein the at least one display comprises a first display and a second display, wherein the first game is shown on the first display and the collection is shown on the second display.

12. A gaming machine comprising:

at least one electronic video display;

a value input comprising at least one of a coin acceptor, a bill acceptor and a ticket reader; and

an electronic controller coupled to the at least one electronic video display and the value input, the electronic controller is configured:

to determine if a wager has been received via the value input;

to display a first game on the at least one electronic video display if a wager has been received;

a play of the first game including a plurality of randomly selected game symbols arranged in a plurality of reels, one or more of the configurations of the randomly selected game symbols arranged along a pay line being associated with a winning game outcome, the winning game outcome being associated with a value award payable to a player;

to randomly determine whether to display one or more bonus symbols on the reels in the first game, each bonus symbol being associated with a bonus value award;

in response to a trigger event occurring in a first play of the first game, to display an array of the bonus symbols on the at least one electronic video display separate to the reels for one or more plays of a second game; and

upon the appearance of one or more bonus symbols in the one or more subsequent plays of the second game, to add the one or more bonus symbols to the array,

wherein bonus symbols are sequentially transferred from the array in response to bonus symbols being added to the array and wherein each transferred bonus symbol moves to a win meter so that the amount of the win meter increases by the amount of the bonus value award associated with the transferred bonus symbol.

13. The gaming machine of claim 12 , wherein the trigger event comprises the appearance of a predetermined number of bonus symbols in the first play of the first game and the bonus symbols appearing in the first play of the first game are arranged in the array for the next play of the one or more subsequent plays of the second game.

14. The gaming machine of claim 6 , wherein the trigger event comprises the appearance of a predetermined number of bonus symbols in the first play of the first game.

15. The gaming machine of claim 14 , wherein the bonus symbols appearing in the first play of the first game are arranged in the array for the next play of the one or more subsequent plays of the first game.

16. The gaming machine of claim 15 wherein one or more of the bonus symbols appearing in the first play of the first game are arranged in array positions of the array corresponding to their respective positions in the first play of the first game.

17. The gaming machine of claim 6 , wherein bonus symbols are sequentially transferred from the array in response to bonus symbols being added to the array.

18. The gaming machine of claim 6 , wherein the bonus symbols are arranged in a predetermined order in the array.

19. The gaming machine of claim 18 , wherein the bonus symbols are transferred from the array according to the predetermined order when one or more bonus symbols are added to the array.

20. The gaming machine of claim 6 , wherein the first game comprises a base game and a feature game, the first play of the first game being a play of the base game and the one or more subsequent plays of the first game being plays of the feature game.